Not Just iOS: Android Apps Can Secretly Copy, Upload Photos

Status
Not open for further replies.

coreym72

Distinguished
Jan 2, 2008
30
0
18,580
Android and Google can have all the access they want as long as the option boxes appear for each download with the understating of the required permissions. I'm set!
 

amk-aka-Phantom

Distinguished
Mar 10, 2011
653
0
18,940
How long will it take for the people to understand that NO data stored on a device with Internet access and installed software, the source code of which you haven't personally went through, will NEVER be secure/safe/private?

:D
 

ap3x

Distinguished
May 17, 2009
348
0
18,930
At least the truth is coming out. We should all know about this stuff so we can make a decision weather or not this is acceptable or not and allow us to make more informed decisions about the devices we want to use. This for me is a deal breaker mainly because if their is no authorization required to access photos, what else could be accessed just by virtue of having a data connection. I would be curious if they are digging a bit further into this to find out other things that have the same authorization issue.
 

tonytopper

Honorable
Mar 2, 2012
1
0
10,510
Couldn't most Windows "apps" you install do this? Haven't they always been able to do this?

I wouldn't be surprised if the same is true for Macs and even Linux machines.
 

ap3x

Distinguished
May 17, 2009
348
0
18,930
Potentially yes but there are applications that allow you to secure that and control outbound access from an application. Not so on a Phone or Tablet.
 

frozonic

Distinguished
Dec 28, 2011
69
0
18,580
come on.... we all know EVERY IT company spy its users but the information they get its not used for bad purposes, they use that info to make a "newer and better" device the next year, yeah, i know its iligal but who says life is fair?
 
G

Guest

Guest
hmm, thats just scratching the surface. combine this with the fact that on android phones you now have the ability to capture screenshots (and on some tablets, an easy on-screen button to do it every time you accidentally brush your wrist against it), its not just photos, but screenshots of your most encrypted secure and sensitive apps can now be mined by rogue apps.
 

zak_mckraken

Distinguished
Jan 16, 2004
868
0
18,930
I'm shocked for 2 reasons : first, I don't like the fact that my private pictures (not to mix with pictures of my privates) are sent everywhere for some voyeur to see. Second: bandwidth.

I hope Google doesn't intend to talk their way around this and will actually fix this by clearly requesting permission.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Every computer is vulnerable to this, really. It's just files on the file system. If the user has rights to that folder, than any app that runs under that user also has rights to that folder.

This isn't an Android problem but the nature of how computers work.

And really, how useful would a computer be if programs can't access the file system?
 

house70

Distinguished
Apr 21, 2010
1,465
0
19,310
[citation][nom]anonimus cward[/nom]hmm, thats just scratching the surface. combine this with the fact that on android phones you now have the ability to capture screenshots (and on some tablets, an easy on-screen button to do it every time you accidentally brush your wrist against it), its not just photos, but screenshots of your most encrypted secure and sensitive apps can now be mined by rogue apps.[/citation]
yeah, because that's what any person with common sense would do: take screenshots of their " most encrypted secure and sensitive apps"... geez. If you do that, you really need a reality check, even if it comes as a photo leak.
 
G

Guest

Guest
All the files on your SD card are readable by default in Android. If your pictures are stored there, then they are readable. This has been the way it has been done since 1.0. This is no different from an SD card plugged into your computer.

For onboard memory, the application can restrict file access with greater granularity, (because you aren't restricted primarily to FAT32 like on the SD card).
 

greenspoon

Distinguished
Nov 28, 2007
26
0
18,580
It is really funny to me how this is ok, since it is google. When this was Apple being accused of this it was terrible and underhanded.
 

igot1forya

Distinguished
Jun 27, 2008
356
0
18,930
[citation][nom]greenspoon[/nom]It is really funny to me how this is ok, since it is google. When this was Apple being accused of this it was terrible and underhanded.[/citation]
I think the idea is that Android people know what there getting into - Apple people don't. It's like giving a loaded gun to a baby or something. :)
 

eddieroolz

Distinguished
Moderator
Sep 6, 2008
3,485
0
20,730
What did you expect from Google? They have a legion of fanboys that are as vicious and blind as Apple loyalists. But like few other commentors above have said, it's very alarming that people think it's okay because this is from Google. That's a double standard. No one should be applying a double standard, especially not to companies.

This is the kind of things that makes me very happy that I'm using a BlackBerry now, with its secure system and explicit permission control.
 

blazorthon

Distinguished
Sep 24, 2010
761
0
18,960
I thought we already knew that Google allowed this stuff simply because it is a Google device. Google isn't shy about invading our privacy and/or allowing others to invade our privacy.

I still have an Android, but I most certainly watch what I do and say on it even more so than I watch myself on my PCs.
 

cold fire

Distinguished
Nov 26, 2009
22
0
18,560
[citation][nom]greenspoon[/nom]It is really funny to me how this is ok, since it is google. When this was Apple being accused of this it was terrible and underhanded.[/citation]

Seriously, when it was Apple the tone was much more aggressive but now this is happening on a Google platform it's ok and just how computers work! The Google droids are starting to disgust me more than the iSheep ever had.
 

blazorthon

Distinguished
Sep 24, 2010
761
0
18,960
Also, I'm not forgiving Google nor Apple here, it's just that we have heard so much about this, it has kinda lost the surprise it once had. This is alarming and I also consider it alarming that some Google fans don't mind Google doing/allowing this stuff as much as they mind Apple, and the same for Apple fans to Google, but really... Google, overall, seems to be a somewhat better company than Apple.

Google at least tries (tried?) to embrace their fans and such rather than outright controlling them. Google doesn't necessarily put stuff and watch our every move all of the time, just for Google services. Google allows other groups such as the wireless companies to do it and that is still bad, but Apple does everything themselves and tries to keep it that way. Both companies should stop invading privacy, but that just isn't going to stop no matter what we say.

We, as the more tech savvy people, can be as alarmed as we want to be, but the majority of users need to be alarmed too, or at least a lot of them. Otherwise, Google and Apple just don't care. Same thing goes for the wireless companies and more.

The best we can do is just not do anything we really don't want someone else to see on the phones. I don't do anything that involves my personal data, nothing about any bank accounts and such on my phone and that probably won't ever change.

Programmers among us can help out more by writing code that stops some/all of the crap that we would otherwise need to put up with, but even the average techy only knows so much about programming.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.